Supporting traditions

Apart from the boiling climate scenario when I think of the Mediterranean it is towards food my mind rests. Tomatoes fragrant from the vine, charcuterie, salty cheeses and olives, fish and more… Isn’t the Mediterranean diet heralded as the answer to many an ill? Is it the food itself or the setting or both? One thing is for certain this dietary culture has a strong heritage and tradition that is passed down from generation to generation. Perhaps this is why there is strong resistance in Italy to the new fangled dietary answers to climate change in the form of bug laden pastas and lab grown meats. The strong gut instinct of a nourished population that finds it important to safeguard the nations heritage and agricultural traditions that have produced great food and wine.

Make no mistake, there is a lot of money invested in alternatives to traditional food production and the traditional agricultural sector. Investors will want return on this “sure thing” for climate change. For our younger generations who are fed on nuggets and goujons the switch to synthetic will hardly be noticed so it is the older folk who have a strong memory of what real food is like that need to be convinced to change. Guilt is a great tool to use and we in Ireland have been reared on it. Undermining and demonizing the traditional sector is one of the many ways to clear the path for these synthetic products masquerading as nourishment. Take note of Italy defending food freedom. We need to defend the Irish farmers here too before its too late. 

​Anne Maher